GEB

I’ve begun reading Godel, Escher, Bach an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter a Pulitzer Prize-Winning book originally published in 1979.

What is GEB really all about?  Some think the title tells it all: a book about a mathematician, an artist, and a musician.  There’s no way the book is about these three people!  Well, then, what about a book that sohws how math, art, and music are really the same thing at their core?  Again, this is a million miles off.  In a word, GEB is a very personal attempt to say how it is that animate beings can come from inanimate matter.  What is a self, and how can a self come out of stuff that is as as selfless as a stone or a puddle?  What is an “I”, and why are such things found only mounted atop mobile pedestals that roam the world on pairs of slightly fuzzy, jointed stilts?

Site -  http://en.wikipedia.org

Scholars Debate Whether To Limit Scientific Research

A conference titled “Forbidding Science? Balancing Freedom, Security, Innovation and Precaution” will explore whether scientific research should be restricted – and, if so, how far “too far” might be. It will include research controversies in the areas of pathogens and toxins, nanotechnology and cognitive enhancement and will be held Jan. 12 – 13 at Arizona State University in Tempe.

Site – http://www.asu.edu

Oh, Has Uncle Sam Got Mail

The rapid adoption of electronic communications technology in the last decade has created a major crisis for the National Archives. The amount of data to be preserved has exploded in recent years, thanks to the proliferation of high-tech tools such as personal computers and wireless email devices such as BlackBerries. When President Bush leaves office after eight years, the White House is expected to turn over more than 100 million emails to the National Archives. At the same time, technology is becoming obsolete so fast that electronic documents created today may not be legible on tomorrow’s devices, the equivalent of trying to play an eight-track tape on an iPod.

Site – http://online.wsj.com

Commentary: Living Forever

Ray Kurzweil “takes human evolution far beyond today’s most optimistic forecasts in … arguably the most blogged-about book of 2005, a 640-page blockbuster: ‘The Singularity Is Near.’” “These hold that anyone born today will live to be 130 and productive to 110, and those born in the 22nd century will live to 250. The glass-half-full-and-filling geomancers of the human genome research world can perceive ‘immortality’ in the 23rd century. Kurzweil’s sees the same evolution achieving a similar breakthrough for the children and grandchildren of the post-World War II baby boomers.”

Site – http://www.upi.com

Quantum Trickery: Testing Einstein’s Strangest Theory

Experiments in quantum entanglement are increasing challenging Einstein’s critique of “spooky action at a distance.” The world is “not as real as we think,” says Anton Zeilinger of the University of Vienna. It’s “even weirder than what quantum physics tells us.”

Site – http://www.nytimes.com

MIT Working On ‘Stackable’ Cars Of The Future

A team headed by William Mitchell, former head of the school of architecture at MIT, has been working for four years on stackable, sharable efficient CARS OF THE FUTURE. The cars will generate zero pollution and will be customizable. Each wheel will essentially be a robot with its own electric motor and suspension. The team plans to present the final design in a few months to General Motors, which will build a prototype.

Site – http://www.therawfeed.com

Pathway To Diamond-Based Molecular Manufacturing

The main impediment to molecular manufacturing today is the lack of an experimental procedure for routinely and precisely building objects, atom by atom, at the molecular scale. The key to this is molecular positional assembly, or mechanosynthesis — the formation of covalent chemical bonds using precisely applied mechanical forces. After a brief description of the various diamond surfaces, I will describe a specific dimer placement tool that has been extensively investigated for diamond mechanosynthesis using various computational methods. This tool appears to be stable in isolation, and should be able to deposit carbon dimers on a diamond C(110) surface as required, during room temperature operation. Next, I present a preliminary proposal for a four-step experimental process by which this dimer placement tool, along with its associated macroscale handle structure, could be fabricated using presently-available bulk-chemistry techniques. My new tool fabrication process is the subject of the first (provisional) patent ever written on diamond mechanosynthesis, filed in February 2004. If a practical dimer placement tool can be built in this manner, it will allow the fabrication of improved dimer placement tools, thus opening up the entire field of molecularly-precise diamond fabrication — and, indeed, molecular machine manufacturing — to practical laboratory experimentation.

Site – http://www.molecularassembler.com

Putin Has No Mobile Phone, But 120 Million Russians Do

Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted Friday he does not have his own mobile phone in a meeting with Telecommunications Minister Leonid Reiman but 120 million others Russians now do.

Site – http://www.physorg.com

Chip Industry Sets A Plan For Life After Silicon

“Nanotechnology is officially on the road map. A handful of futuristic chip-making technologies at the atomic scale have been added to an industry planning effort that charts the future of the semiconductor manufacturing industry every two years… “The shift away from conventional silicon transistors has become an important part of the industry’s thinking, though the use of nanotechnology is not expected to replace current chip-making processes for another decade… “What has changed in the industry’s road map is the growing confidence in new technologies that make electronic switches from single molecules or even single electrons. “The development of nanoswitches has reached a point where it will be possible to manufacture them reliably at low cost, according to several researchers who have been involved in the preparation of the report. The New York Times obtained a draft of a report chapter titled “Emerging Research Devices.� “The transition to new nanotechnology techniques could occur around 2015, when chip makers will have exhausted their ability to shrink the wires and switches that make up the modern processors and memory storage devices at the heart of the computer, communications and consumer electronics industries.�

site – http://www.nytimes.com

Publication Data Indicates Growth In Developing Nations’ Scientific Output

The Institute for Statistics (UIS) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has published a study of bibliometric data which indicates that scientific publications by developed countries have declined in the last 20 years while some developing regions, specifically Asia and Latin America, have increased their contributions and other developing regions, specifically Africa, declined dramatically. According to the study, bibliometric indicators, which are counts of scientific publications and the citations they receive, are a good proxy for overall scientific output. The study attributes the declining publication rates in developed countries to the EU’s decision to pursue basic research instead of technological development and their lack of interest in defense research and development in comparison to the U.S. It attributes the growth in publications from developing countries to a rise in collaborations with scientists from developed nations. The study says that the data suggests that newly-industrialized nations in Asia are specializing in physics, chemistry, and engineering while other developing countries are concentrating on bio-medical research and Africa is focusing on biology, specifically food and agricultural sciences. The study can be viewed online at the link below.

Site – http://www.uis.unesco.org

Bangladesh Takes First Steps Towards Nanotechnology

Dr. M.A. Asgar, a professor of physics at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), says that BUET and the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Center have begun researching nanostructured magnetic materials with help from the international community. Asgar says that despite Bangladesh’s limited resources, “it is essential that developing countries take part in prospective new fields of research” so that they can reap the benefits of new developments. He highlights the possibility of nanotechnology addressing environmental and health issues through green manufacturing, alternative fuels, novel drug delivery systems, and biomedical sensors. Asgar predicts that nanotechnology’s current presence in the commercial market is only a fraction of what it will be in ten to twenty years. The article can be viewed online at the link below.

Site – http://independent-bangladesh.com

This Year, Santa Went Cybershopping

Online holiday spending rose 25 percent to 30 percent from a year ago, with hot items being computer hardware, consumer electronics and clothing, according to two reports released on Thursday.

Site – http://news.com.com